Reflections on 2016 ~ Why ReimagineArt Works!

After piloting the very first ReimagineArt creative workshop over one year ago, a gratified participant mused, “I can’t put my finger on exactly why this works but it really does!” She and her team had just completed a 6′ x6′ freeform, all-hands-on-deck, mixed-media hanging mural, and she was reflecting on the takeaway benefits for her team of their ReimagineArt experience.

This particular team preferred the non-directive approach, so we showed up with our typical abundance of supplies and materials, a blank 6 x 6 foot canvas, demo’d a few techniques, and off they went in somewhat of a creative frenzy. The results? Abstract bedazzlement – and they were so pleased!

So there is indeed that: the display-worthy end product of the collaborative creative effort. But there’s also the creative process by which colleagues work together to bounce around ideas, design concepts, work through and around presenting problems, elaborate on each other’s work, and add embellishments and flourishes for a distinctively personal touch. Co-workers bond when they co-create art because they each make vital contributions to a fun creative process as well as to the eye-pleasing results. With ReimagineArt, teams experience first-hand and quickly that when they work well together, the collective sum is greater than their individual parts. Success!

ReimagineArt has facilitated many more customized co-creative art workshops for teams since that first piloted event (some more directive than others), and participants repeatedly feel energized and delighted by the experience. The following answers to a question on our Follow-Up Survey bring us closer to putting a finger on the whyReimagineArt works. Participants report that they appreciate and enjoy:

Creating something together

A new way to get to know coworkers

Laughter and expression

Learning about each other

Working on a different, fun level

Partnership

Being creative and collaborative

Working with others to create

Bonding as a team

Playing with my co-workers

Sharing about our (art)work

Freedom to create

So it’s not exactly science – although science does back the myriad mind, body, and social benefits of creating art – but the idea to bring the creative arts into the workplace to strengthen teams and promote well-being works, and by works I mean produces and provides fun, meaningful, connective, shared experiences for co-workers, not to mention impressive art — and isn’t that what every caring and thriving business wants?

Contact ReimagineArt to learn more about how our unique and affirmed technique can help support your efforts to build teams and promote engagement, connectivity, and retention in the workplace.

“Not everything has to be legible to everyone. It’s not exclusionary; it’s more so just providing layers and making the art richer.” – Jamila Woods